


The Woman Who has Everything

by madain_sari



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: F/M, Gen, Gohan as a weirdly effective therapist, Post-Cell Games Saga, Valentine's Day, Vegeta can't deal with his feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:48:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22420585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madain_sari/pseuds/madain_sari
Summary: Vegeta faces his biggest challenge yet: Valentine's day. Post Cell, pre Buu.
Relationships: Bulma Briefs/Vegeta
Comments: 10
Kudos: 48





	The Woman Who has Everything

There were freshly baked cookies in the kitchen. That alone was enough clue for the suspicious thing…that could be happening any second now. His eyes darted left and right. He took the cookie plate and sniffed it. Were there sedatives? Anti-depressants? Poison?

Nothing.

He took an a bite, gingerly. Lactose, cocoa, glycerides, carbohydrate, complex glucose…perfectly normal, ordinary cookies. (and definitely an improvement from her previous tries. Could this be her mother’s?) He noticed that there were more cocoa than usual. Definitely suspicious.

“Oh hey! Cookies!” his son exclaimed as the boy entered the kitchen. The boy made a beeline for it and snatched three pieces at once. His grandmother followed suit, eternally happy and perky. “Did Bulma bake these?”

His face, an impassive mask, and he shrugged. She grabbed a piece. “Mm, wow, she’s getting better. Almost as good as mine.” Secretly he found the fact that his mate’s mother’s pride amusing. The woman would never concede that her daughter can cook as well as she does. (not that he blamed her. Her earlier efforts, when he just moved in were pretty abysmal)

“You should have some, Dad!” his son suggested, throwing him two discs. He’d already had one but he supposed more couldn’t hurt.

“Soo…,” Mrs. Briefs started the chitchat. “What have you got planned for Valentine’s day?”

He froze.

What.

Is it really that ridiculous time of the year again? When pathetic humans would try woo the opposite sex and jump through ridiculous hoops just to get lucky? Wait, wait…why…would he need to be involved in all these ridiculous aggravation anyway?

“I’m not sure I follow,” he carefully said, feigning ignorance.

Mrs. Briefs laughed. “Oh, come now, Dearie, (he winced) now that you’re both a couple, you’ve probably got something planned.” At this, Mrs. Briefs gasped. “Ah! You don't want to tell me? You are fun, Vegeta.“ She winked. “Come along Trunks…”

After the two left the kitchen he stood there, ruminating.

When the hell did they become a couple?

Okay, they had a child together, but lots of Frieza’s men had children with the local women of the planets they colonize. It wasn’t as if they really thought about …making an offspring or anything. In fact, Trunks had been an accident.

So he had no other women he was sleeping with. He also has a perfectly logical answer to that. She was in the vicinity, relatively attractive, smart as a whip and willing. As to why she still sleeps exclusively with him, he has no idea. It wasn’t as if he forbid her to sleep with other men. (he IS secretly pleased about that though.)

He hadn’t left the compound since the incident with Cell. But then again, why leave, when he has access to training technology, food, hot water, and people who seems to enjoy his presence. (to this day, it still baffles him, it wasn’t like he was like the constantly happy Kakarot. For some reason, his son positively idolizes him, his…er…partner(?) indulges him for no other reason than to the fact that she wants to, his so-called in laws regularly talks to him and makes him his favourite food)

He helps her take care of their son on a daily basis. What do they expect? The boy’s half saiyan and if Kakarot’s wife (who was stronger than his mate) has a hard time when Gohan (Gohan! The shy, fidgety, nervous, obedient child!!!) was a small boy, he could just imagine his mischievous son, inheriting his mother’s brain and his strength wreaking havoc and even perhaps bringing his eternally cheerful grandmother to tears. Besides, the boy needs a decent role model, and his mother was certainly not one, judging by how his alternate timeline counterpart had behaved.

Perfectly logical reasoning. Nothing sentimental or emotional.

There, they were not a couple. They were just two people who happened to be mutually attracted to one another and happened to have a child together. Nothing strange about that. Plenty of people in the universe who weren’t couples did that. He was sure of it.

Oh, and it wasn’t as if she ever nagged him about it.

Finally, at peace with himself, he headed towards the gravity room in the backyard.

Fate, or the higher powers that be, it seems, like to mess with him. The gravity room was sealed off. There was a huge sign hanging over the door saying “In Repair, Don’t even think about it, Vegeta. I took out the engine.”

He contemplated confronting her about it. It wasn’t as if he hasn’t done it before. Although, lately things have been pretty peaceful. Then it hit him, the cookies, her mother’s sniggers, the grav room repair…could this be…blackmail? It wasn’t as if she was above it. Was this really some weak attempt to get him to actually…woo her? 

He smirked. Hah. No way would he comply. He was above her petty one upmanship. He walked back inside the compound and finding his boy watching some garishly coloured cartoon on TV. The boy greeted him enthusiastically and he grunted in response. He might as well join his son with nothing else to do that day.

“Not training, Dad?”

He shook his head.

“So, Dad, you got plans with Mom today?” his son asked.

“What.” He growled.

“Well, you know...,” the boy said, gesturing his hands around, trying to search for words. “Dinners…? With…fancy…clothes?”

“Where do you get these ideas?”

“Dunno…grandma and grandpa?” he answered lamely. It was true though. Valentine’s Day was probably the only day his grandfather would get off his lab and actually put in an effort to impress his grandmother.

“I have nothing planned!” Vegeta shouted, sounding more defensive than he intended to.

“Okay then! Sheesh!” the toddler said, snapping his attention back to the cartoon.

They didn’t say anything for a while. But then Vegeta’s eyes darkened as an idea slowly crept in. His woman plays dirty. Was their son in on her little plot too?

“Boy, tell me what she bribed you with.”

“What?” Trunks replied, confused.

“Nice try, but I know what’s really going on in here…”

Genuinely confused, Trunks knitted his eyebrows. Bribe? What on earth was his father talking about? “Seriously, Dad!”

“Boy, I’ve lived longer and seen more things than you have seen. I know how this works.”

Trunks gave him a rather sheepish grin. What else could you do when you don’t really understand what your father was accusing you of?

“Ahah, “ Vegeta exclaimed, satisfied. “I knew it. You can tell her I will not play.”

He left the room, looking as pleased as a cat that got the cream.

Trunks looked at his father in confusion. The dad on TV suddenly supplied, "If every pork chop is perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs..." Trunks snorted. “Grown-ups are weird.”

Vegeta walked towards the laboratory compound of the house and saw her father with a steaming cup of coffee walking outside.

“You can tell her I’m not playing,” he repeated.

“Eh?”

“You can tell your daughter, I’m not interested about it at all.”

“I…see,” the scientist slowly answered. He took a ruminating sip of the brown liquid. An inspiration hit Dr. Briefs.

“Is this about Valentine’s Day?”

  
There was a satisfied smirk gracing the Saiyan’s face.

“Don’t worry too much about it,” the old man advised as Vegeta turned around.

“Believe me, I won’t,” the Saiyan darkly replied. But the old man didn’t stop talking.

“I mean, you’d think women all want fancy dinners, romantic lighting, all the expensive wine but mostly they just want something nice, just the two of you. We didn’t used to have all this--”, Vegeta turned around at that. “My wife and I would just cycle out of the city just to see the starlights.” There was a fond smile in the older man’s face. “Pity we’re not that young anymore.” Mr. Briefs gave a chuckle.

“Still not playing, old man,” Vegeta finally said, walking away once again.

"There's two bicycles in my office! In the capsule near our family picture!" he yelled. "We'll take care of Trunks too!"

The nerve of that woman! Employing her own family just to get a tiny, worthless goal. Well, he would show her! Smirking, he decided to fly around the world, _twice_ just to drive home his point. And perhaps he would actually pop by Mount Paozu to spar with Gohan just for good measure!

* * *

Flying ended up being boring that day. It had been his go-to warm up exercise for his day to day training but somehow he just couldn't finish his usual course. He stopped and turned sharply to the east, to verdant Mount Paozu and specifically to a yellow house inside its forest.

"Boy!" he screamed through the window. "I know you're there!"

Gohan heaved a sigh. Vegeta. Of course. The day had been going a little too well to his liking. Might as well get it over with . He groaned and sluggishly stretched before propping open his window and leaned his body outside.

"Vegeta, what do you need?"

"Come on boy, spar with me!"

Gohan looked at him before replying, "Really? Now?"

"Yes, now! Don't sass me!"

He rolled his eyes slightly, "I don't know how to tell you this but I do have high school entrance exam to pass, can't you spar with anyone else?"

"Clearly you're doing so well at this studying", Vegeta mocked, his head cocking at a small puddle of drool pooling at the centre of Gohan's workbook.

Gohan blushed. "Fine, fine, " Gohan said, flying outside his window. "Let's do it somewhere empty."

They both flew to an empty grassland. Gohan settled into his horse stance. Vegeta smirked and got in position as well. They stood still for a minute before Gohan lunged towards Vegeta.

"Hup!"

"Ha!"

Vegeta felt the wonderful rush of adrenaline as he traded punches and kicks with Gohan. His muscles tightened and contracted and his body just went on automatic. Fighting was the thing. Fighting was the only thing. There was nothing else. Dodge, parry, parry, thrust, dodge! Yes! This was it! This was the way of life he was born to be! Yes!

"Hey Vegeta?"

"Hn?!"

"Are you distracted or something?"

They stopped. "What gave you that idea, boy?"

"You're usually much better at blocking my punches."

He froze. Dammit! "Everyone has off days, boy!", he defensively yelled back.

"Wanna talk about it?"

* * *

He thought the most humiliating thing in his life had been when, Krillin almost killed him, Frieza toying with him all his life, Kakarot stealing his thunder, but he had sunk to a new low. He was now sitting down in his former enemy's' house while Gohan brewed him a pot of chamomile tea, waiting for him to talk.

"We're running low on snacks, so you'll just have to make do with these," Gohan said, throwing a box of chocolate dipped biscuits. "Mom is out in town with Piccolo and Goten to get groceries." Gohan poured a large cup for Vegeta before sitting down with a large book in his hands. The boy is clearly challenging him, Vegeta, Prince of All Saiyans, and he won't have it.

"I've known silence all my life, boy, do your worst." 

Gohan looked at him, then his book. "Oh this? It's just a book on previous years' exams, I figured I might as well--"

"Do you really think I , Vegeta, Prince of all Saiyans have to stoop so low to your earthly customs?"

Gohan blinked. "Well, no one is forcing you to do anything right now, Vegeta."

"You're trying to make me talk."

"You don't have to if you don't want to."

"Fine I won't!"

"Okay fine," Gohan responded, rolling his eyes.

Grumpily, Vegeta opened the biscuit package and chewed on it forcefully.

"Did you have a fight with Bulma?"

"No!" Vegeta answered, almost too quickly.

"That's good, " Gohan supplied absentmindedly.

"It is!"

"Then why are you here, again?"

"None of your business, Boy!"

"I feel like we are having a one sided conversation here--"

"No you--" He stopped himself. Gohan was right and he couldn't find a better comeback line. He paused before resorting to folding his arms.

"You only ate five cookies."

"What are you, Dodoria?"

"I don't know the context here--"

"All right it's about Bulma!"

So low.

"You guys aren't fighting you said."

"We're not."

"Is Trunks okay?"

"Never better," he darkly supplied.

"Then --"

"It's fucking Valentine's day okay!"

"W-what is Bulma making you go to a fancy romantic dinner? My Dad hates those"

"No!"

"Romantic trip?"

"No!"

"Then...what is it?"

Vegeta slowly considered Gohan's question. Why had he dreaded this day? Bulma had never really forced him to do anything he didn't want to. She had never really nagged him about anything really. He had assumed everything was okay. He knew her, and she, him.

Was he scared that he might disappoint her? Maybe one day she'll wake up and realize she could do better. He was a prince with no domain, what could he provide for her exactly? She's given so much to him, a son, a roof over his head and an eccentric but loving family.

What do you give the woman who has everything?

He exhaled. "It's spring here."

"Huh? Oh yeah, is it still winter in West City?"

"Does your mother still grow strawberries in the backyard?"

"Yeah."

* * *

Apparently Bulma had been in the her R&D lab all day. Vegeta sighed before knocking on the door lightly, as she had instructed. There was no answers. He tried again, tamping down his impatience. No answers. Well, she asked for this. he rapped on the door while yelling. "Oi, Bulma!!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming, jeez!" she yelled back in annoyance.

There was that light tap, tap, tap of her tiny feet, he readied his stance before she opened the lab door. He shoved a can of beer onto her unprepared arms and strawberries dipped in chocolate inside a bowl.

"...eh?", was her response.

Vegeta's eyebrow rose. "What?"

She looked at him, somewhat stunned, but not displeased.

"Is...it my birthday?" 

All this time and effort and she just. . .

"Wait wait!!"

He turned around, eyes rolling. Bulma glanced at her watch and looked at him dumbfounded.

"Is it Valentine's day?!"

Vegeta facepalmed. He had been overthinking this.

"I ... forgot."

"Forget it, I'm going to bed!" Vegeta huffed

But before he could turn heels, her tiny arms forcefully yanked him and his body and she landed a kiss in his cheeks. He turned to look at her.

She was grinning from ear to ear.

"Thank you Vegeta."

"Wanna eat this together?"

"If I must, " Vegeta said, keeping his voice neutral.

Bulma lead him through the lab and opened the rooftop observatory. "It's not much but this way, we could see the stars too." Bulma picked up a blanket and spread it on the floor. They both sat down when a shooting star passed them by. 

She took a strawberry and popped it in his mouth. "Happy Valentine's Day Vegeta."

"Happy Valentine's day."


End file.
